My inbox has been deluged with summer reading recommendations– from publishers, from professional organizations, from other libraries and from some famous people. Taking a quick survey of summer reading lists I’ve been sent over the month of June (not counting the summer reading lists we have been busy making for adults, for kids and for teens), there are so many choices, it’s almost dizzying. Get out there and read!
The New Yorker Recommends sends me a weekly email. This week’s explores some back titles and the summer reading recommendations.
PGI Putnam Books emails me, “You downloaded ‘The Immortalists’ – now vote for it!” and sends me a link to Jimmy Fallon’s Book Club, The Tonight Show Summer Reads. Kudos to the pickers of diverse new authors. Voting ends Friday, June 29th. The introductory video makes me crave a podcast where Jimmy Fallon and Steve Higgins read book jacket blurbs.
Librarian Nancy Pearl picks Seven Books For Summer Reading on NPR. The NPR 2018 Summer horror poll is closed, so check for a list of 100 reader-nominated favorites judged by a horror-loving panel of authors. In the meantime, brush off the Comic and Graphic Novel favorites from 2017’s poll or 2015’s favorite Romances.
Bill Gates picks 5 books worth reading this summer and channels William Wegman to introduce each, with puppies.
The American Library Association and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Book Club Central challenges groups and individuals with these picks.
Want to vote for your favorites? PBS and Meredith Vieira are pursuing the most-loved novels in The Great American Read, complete with a checklist for printing or carrying on your phone or tablet and #VOTEyourtitlehere hashtags. “Vote once a day, every day for every one of your favorite novels on the list.” #VOTEBookThief
The New York Times has the annual Summer Reading website sorted out by category. Look for 73 titles’ worth of current critics’ recommendations in an appealing choice of genres (thrillers, cooking, true crime, movies & TV, romance, travel, music, the great outdoors and sports).
For more focus on gustatory sensations, Bon Appetite recommends eight non-cookbook food books to read this summer.
If you like to listen, you’ll find the best reviews of audiobooks at The Audies, annually awarded by the Audio Publishers Association (APA) for outstanding audiobooks. Check out this year’s winners and nominees for productions that stand out in the biggest growing publishing marketplace.
While we’re talking listening, if you’re looking for podcasts for a bit of a reading break, or supplement via audible storytelling, this article has many tips and recommendations (insider help for librarians that you can use), including finding online author guest appearances and podcasts for booklovers.
If you’re still looking for reading, LitHub does a great job of mashing up titles on many summer reading booklists. Author Emily Temple reviewed 28 summer preview lists (437 distinct titles), tracking mentions for a list of everything that was recommended at least twice, in descending order of popularity, saying, “If nothing else, it’s a place to start.” Don’t go quickly scanning this piece, looking only for cover art as you read through this dense and centered list of mentioned titles. In fairness, the list has some soon-to-publish titles and only a couple of the summer book lists mentioned above in this post were consulted for LitHub’s count. In the same vein, Temple crunches numbers again to reveal “which books do famous authors read and recommend most, or, how to read like your favorite writers.” The winner, with nine mentions: Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary (recommended by Ernest Hemingway, Sloane Crosley, Bret Easton Ellis, John Irving, Mary Gaitskill, Helen Fielding, Philip Roth, Claire Messud, Lorrie Moore).
So many stories, there’s something for everyone on these lists. Participate in our summer reading challenges and join us for summer reading!
Photo courtesy of the author.